Eamon Dunphy was being coy over his couscous and lightly poached chicken.

Q. "So what happens Eamon when you meet Pat Kenny in the changing rooms before kick-off?"

A. "Hmm, interesting scheduling."

The Premiership, RTE's very own Match of The Day, paraded its forward line yesterday in the Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin, to play out the pre-screening psyche out of TV3, which begins broadcasting this weekend. With striker Eamon Dunphy spearheading the programme and back-up in midfield and defence from John Giles, Liam Brady, Joe Kinnear, Bill O'Herlihy and Jim Beglin, it is Kenny v Dunphy, Part II. Last time an out-of-court settlement saw Kenny smiling and ensured the contest would not go into extra time. This time it's for the real thing - viewers. The Premiership will begin at 10.15 on Saturday evenings on Network 2, overlapping with Ken- ny Live on RTE 1, which currently runs from 9.30pm to 11.00pm. The combination, according to RTE head of sport Tim O'Connor, should effectively wipe out the competition - including TV3. Importantly, the package gives the national broadcaster access to Manchester United's home games. Had the deal been in place last Saturday RTE would have screened most of United's game against Coventry where the BBC showed only a few minutes.

Importantly, too, RTE will screen the soccer 25 minutes before the BBC's Match of the Day. Their production team has consistently tried to get an earlier slot, but the programme is currently stuck in the 10.40 slot. RTE's deal with the BBC is for three years. The strength of the arrangement is that the package can be moulded to suit the different audience. For example, the BBC format is to screen one feature game and smaller exerts from other important matches. RTE can, if it wishes, upgrade any of the games to become their feature match as the BBC have cameras at each venue. E the option of taking a Liverpool or Arsenal game instead of Coventry. RTE can, therefore, decide its own content.

The access to Manchester United's home games on Saturdays is an independent deal arranged through a production company which covers the Old Trafford matches. RTE have also negotiated access for interviews with Irish players playing with English clubs.

RTE will also provide their own commentators - George Hamilton, Jimmy Magee, Steve Alkin and Ger Canning.

"With about 30 Saturdays a season and over three years it is good value. It's cheaper than Pat Kenny," said an RTE source.

"I have to be fair to RTE. They have a lot of people involved. It's a team. They do things right for the viewer. Fundamentally that's the reason I'd doing it," said Dunphy, on skipping a TV3 offer to join their panel for their exclusive live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's away games in the Euro 2000 campaign.

"I also think the earlier start is very important for kids who want to watch football. For kids in that half hour margin, who might otherwise go to bed, it does make a difference."

From the RTE perspective, they hope to sweep up the majority female audience which watches Kenny Live, as well as the predominantly male viewership at which The Premiership is aimed.

"We're particularly delighted to have out old team back again," said Joe Mulholland, director general of RTE. "Eamon Dunphy and ourselves have our tiffs, our differences, but as a controversial, important, provocative voice it is important to have him back."

O'Connor, one of the leading figures who negotiated the deal, was typically to the point about what RTE rightly see as a coup.

"The BBC have other agendas. They have considerations with the FA and Premiership people in the game which won't beset us. We will have robust analysis without an agenda. You can't sell bullshit. RTE can now get on the air first and when the BBC are finished we are still on the air. That is a legitimate broadcasting tactic," he said.

One thing which could upset RTE's strong start to the season is the Office of Fair Trading in Britain, who have yet to rule on a the question of a Premiership monopoly. The decision is likely to be arrived at in January and if they rule against the Premiership, then all deals are off.